An evocative late Victorian collector’s album, bound in deep burgundy-brown cloth with decoratively stamped borders, gilt-edged pages and an applied central label reading “ALBUM”.
The time-softened pages are filled with numerous hand-pasted chromolithographic scraps and small printed cards. Their wonderfully varied subjects include portraits, caricatures, fashionable women, children, birds, flowers, animals and romantic or theatrical scenes. Several figures wear clothing inspired by the 17th and 18th centuries, giving the album the character of a miniature cabinet of curiosities on paper.
The vivid colours of the printed scraps contrast beautifully with the warm patina of the aged pages. Substantial in both size and weight, this is a highly decorative and atmospheric object for collectors of Victorian ephemera, antique albums and historical works on paper.
The album comes from the contents of an old Portuguese manor house.
Condition: Good antique condition for its considerable age. The cloth cover displays rubbing, marks, worn corners and edge wear. The cover is partly detached at the lower hinge or base. The pages show natural age-toning, occasional marks and minor edge wear, while the illustrations retain appealing colour. Please study the photographs carefully, as they form part of the description.
Dimensions: 31 × 24 × 4.5 cm
Weight: 1.8 kg
32pgs
